Absence of DSS lawyer forces adjournment in Ansaru terrorism trial

The trial of the Ansaru leaders, Mahmud Usman and Abubakar Abba, on terrorism charges has been shifted to November 19 by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The trial, billed for October 21, was on Tuesday shifted to November 19 by Justice Emeka Nwite following the absence of counsel to the DSS, Mohammed Abubakar.

The lawyer, in a letter to the registrar of the court, apologized for his inability to be in court and sought an adjournment to enable him to be present to conduct the trial.

Following no objection to the request, Justice Nwite subsequently fixed November 19 for the trial of the two defendants.

At the last proceedings, the court had sentenced one of the two defendants, Mahmud Muhammed Usman, aka Abu Bara’a, to 15 years for illegal mining.

Usman, who hails from Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State, and Abubakar Abba, aka Isah Adam or Mahmud Al-Nigeri, who hails from Daura, Katsina State, were arraigned by the DSS on 32 counts of terrorism and related offences.

Of the 32 counts, Usman, who is the first defendant, had pleaded guilty to Count 10, which was on illegal mining. The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, had consequently convicted him of the crime and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

The second alleged Ansaru commander, Abubakar Abba, who was arraigned alongside the convict, however, denied the economic sabotage offence.

Usman and Abubakar Abba were put on trial on terrorism charges by the Department of State Services (DSS), but Usman pleaded guilty to Count 10 in the 32-count charge, which bordered on economic crime.

While Abubakar Abba pleaded not guilty to the 32-count charge on terrorism offences, Usman denied only 31 counts.

At the arraignment proceedings, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Babadoko Abubakar, alleged in the charges that the two defendants committed the crimes between 2015 and 2024.

Among others, they were accused of bombing Wawa Military Cantonment in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, receiving training in weapon handling, and fabricating improvised explosive devices.

The security agency alleged that they belonged to foreign terror groups, engaged in terrorism financing and kidnapping, and received training on war tactics from a terrorist organization in Mali.

In another charge, the DSS accused them of kidnapping a Customs officer and another Immigration officer, who was killed while in their custody.

The secret police claimed that the accused persons collected ransoms running into millions of naira from families of their victims before the long arm of the DSS captured them.

Similarly, they were accused of engaging in the unlawful mining of mineral resources without a valid license, from which they also made millions of naira.

One of the charges by the DSS against the two defendants is that the huge sums made from kidnapping ransoms and unlawful mineral mining were deployed to the procurement of large quantities of arms and ammunition, including improvised explosive devices.

The DSS further alleged that the two men received training on terrorism and war tactics in Sudan and Mali and also facilitated the same for their followers.

In another charge, they were accused of concealing information on terror attacks on various locations in Niger State.

Following their denial of the charges, Justice Emeka Nwite had ordered them to be remanded at the DSS facility in Abuja.